first-foot

[ furst-foot ]

/ ˈfɜrstˈfʊt /

Scot.

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noun Also first-footer.

the first person to cross the threshold of a house on New Year's Day.

the first person met after starting out on the day of an important occasion.

verb (used with object)

to enter (a house) first on New Year's Day.

verb (used without object)

to be the first to enter a house on New Year's Day.

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Origin of first-foot

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby first-foot

first estate, first family, first finger, First Fleet, first floor, first-foot, first four ships, first fruits, first-generation, first gentleman, firsthand

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use first-foot in a sentence

Fluoride first entered an American water supply through a rather inelegant technocratic scheme.
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In the first episode, an officer is shown video of himself shooting and killing a man.
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But since those rosy scenarios were first floated, the California political scene has grown more crowded.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Eric Garcetti succeeded Villaraigosa and has received high marks in his first year and a half on the job.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He sees himself as the first Muslim president of all Europe.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is the first and principal point at which we can stanch the wastage of teaching energy that now goes on.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The bride elect rushes up to him, and so they both step down to the foot-lights.
Physiology of The Opera|John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at Harvard college.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
And I have not had the first morsel of food prepared from this grain offered me since I reached the shores of Europe.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

British Dictionary definitions for first-foot

first-foot

/ mainly Scot /

noun Also: first-footer

the first person to enter a household in the New Year. By Hogmanay tradition a dark-haired man who crosses the threshold at midnight brings good luck

verb

to enter (a house) as first-foot

Derived forms of first-foot

first-footing, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012